It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride for Tecmo Koei and Quantum Theory, from PS3 exclusive to Multiplatform and multiple delays in between. With the game surely soon to be released, PlayStation LifeStyle got a hands on with the game at this years E3 and despite its few differences, this really is a Gears of War of a different color. Sadly though, it doesn’t look to be the blockbuster that Gears is, but check out below for our full impressions.
Right off the bat you will notice one thing about Quantum Theory and that the game is very stiff in everything it does from the running to the attempt at melee combat. Nothing here in the game feels very fluid with even the cover system not feeling right. And just a heads up, if you were one of the people saying Killzone 2 controls were too stiff, well then I think Killzone 2 may have met its daddy in Quantum Theory. Every single thing in the game is a real chore to do, especially the running. In fact the game refuses to let you run one way and then quickly try and run another, instead making your character do some of the widest turns i have seen outside of an 18 wheeler.
But a shooter like this is all about the combat and while the gun combat was solid enough, it was ruined by the horrible movement in the game aside from the roll. You are able to carry 3 weapons at anytime in the game but please hope that you don’t have to pick up new weapons along the way as this has even been made a chore to do. The guns themselves are fairly interesting and all handle pretty well. The game also features melee combat though I would highly recommend just sitting back and shooting as the slow movement and horrible running make for very awkward attempts at said melee.
The environments were touted as being ever changing and while we saw a little bit of this during our time with the demo, we never got to see it to the level of some videos seen in past. The environments themselves were pretty well done but didn’t really stand out much in the level we played. The character models looked ok and the enemies actually looked pretty solid. There were often 2 different factions of enemies fighting both each other and myself, though Tecmo Koei was very tight lipped on just who the two factions were. The game also features a multi-player for 2-8 people but unfortunately that was not on display for us to try out.
The one impressive thing I took away from the demo was the boss battle that I encountered during it. The boss was huge and presented a new challenge as there no cover to hide behind, leaving you to try and dodge his attacks while blasting vulnerable spots found on his body. Though the boss itself was very cool and it was a nice change of pace, it was still hampered by pretty stiff controls.
Overall the hands on with Quantum Theory did nothing to make me think this game could do anything to distance itself from the Gears of War shadow that has been cast over it by the industry. This wouldn’t be a bad thing if what the game did offer was a solid experience but from our time with the game, it just doesn’t. Hopefully the rest of the game is better then the part we played and it would be great to find out that is the case. However if that’s not the case and this game is truly set to release this summer as we were told, then I fear there may not be enough time for this one to get fixed, though there is always time for another delay right?
